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NFL: Plans scrapped for second game in Britain in 2010 | The Honolulu Advertiser | Hawaii's Newspaper

Posted on: Monday, January 25, 2010

NFL: Plans scrapped for second game in Britain in 2010

Associated Press

LONDON — The NFL has scrapped plans to play a second regular-season game in Britain next season.

Last week, the league announced that the San Francisco 49ers and Denver Broncos would play at Wembley Stadium on Oct. 31. That will mark the fourth straight season in which the NFL has played a regular-season game in the British capital.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said last year that the league was considering adding a second game. But the NFL said on its Web site that uncertainty related to collective bargaining talks and the current economic climate "were critical factors in our decision not to play a second game in the UK."

"Playing one game in the UK is a significant investment. Playing a second game in the UK is an even bigger investment," the NFL said. "Our ambition to bring a second game to the UK is as strong as ever. Once the current uncertainty is resolved, we will be in a strong position to bring multiple games to our UK fan base."

The NFL has played games at Wembley for the last three seasons, with more than 80,000 fans at each game. The first game featured the eventual Super Bowl champion New York Giants beating the Miami Dolphins 13-10. In 2008, the New Orleans Saints beat the San Diego Chargers 37-32. And this season, the New England Patriots defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 35-7 in October.

Aside from Wembley Stadium, Manchester and Glasgow, Scotland, are being looked at as potential venues to host NFL games in the future.

In October, before the New England-Tampa Bay game, Goodell said the idea of eventually putting an expansion team in London was of "tremendous interest" to the NFL. He gave no timeline when such a decision might be taken.